


Fear

by Burrahobbit



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aborted Undertale Genocide Run, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Papyrus-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-07-14 09:24:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7165445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burrahobbit/pseuds/Burrahobbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The human tries a Genocide Run, and Papyrus fears for his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fear

Papyrus was never afraid of anything, until suddenly he was.

Facing the human, his hands shook and his voice trembled, betraying the nervousness he felt. That's all it was, He was just nervous being in front of the human, not afraid! He didn't get afraid.

Sans had seemed on edge all the way to Snowdin as they set up traps and puzzles for the human - none of which the human ever completed. Papyrus, however, had full faith in the human, or so he told himself. His brother would have said something to him if he thought something was really wrong. He kept reminding himself that fact as he waited at the edge of town for the human to meet him there.

When the human arrived, he finally decided he couldn't just capture them. The human seemed to be going down a dark path - _don't think about the dust covering them_ , he reminded himself - and he had to help them. After all, everyone could be a good person if they just tried! If Papyrus couldn't convince even himself of that simple fact, then he would loose everything he was supposed to be. The happy-go-lucky, optimistic skeleton who paraded around as a sentry would be lost and without hope if he couldn't convince himself he could help this human.

He had to try, even if it was the last thing he did.

With open arms, he spared the human without hesitation. If he didn't put total faith in the human, then how could they put faith in themselves? Even with that assurance in his head, he still felt fear pushing its' way through him, making his soul clench. 

He watched the human carefully. Their hand hovered over the fight button for a few moments, before they turned and pressed the mercy button instead. Papyrus felt the tension leave his body as the battle screen disappeared. 

"Wowie, you did it! You didn't do a violence!" Papyrus rubbed his neck sheepishly. "To be honest, I was a little afraid... but you're already becoming a great person!" Papyrus smiled cheerfully throughout his speech. Glad that his confidence had payed off, he returned to his home down the road. The human watched him go, face softening with kindness. They hadn't killed Papyrus in any run yet - they couldn't bring themselves to do it. That would change, however, when he stopped being interesting. In the mean-time, it was fun to play with him. No wonder Flowey seemed to like him so much.

They began heading towards waterfall, intending to find out what would happen if they killed everyone _except_ Papyrus. That had to lead to an interesting ending, right?

**Author's Note:**

> More work with Papyrus' characterization. I honestly can't settle on something completely concrete for him, but I have plenty of headcanons to work with for now.


End file.
